Agenda, decisions and minutes

www.swansea.gov.uk/disclosuresofinterests

In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City & County of Swansea, no interests were declared.

In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City & County of Swansea, no interests were declared.

To approve & sign the Minutes of the previous meeting(s) as a correct record.

Approved.

Resolved that the Minutes of the Organisational Transformation Corporate Delivery Committee held on 22 November 2022 be approved and signed as a correct record.

For Information.

Rachael Davies, Head of HR and Service Centre presented a ‘for information’ report which informed the Committee of the Council’s current recruitment and retention strategy.

It was outlined that the Council’s approach toward Recruitment and Retention was detailed in the Recruitment and Selection Policy, attached at Appendix 1, which was available on Staffnet for managers and employees.  The Reward and Recognition Report, presented to the Committee in October 2022, was provided at Appendix B.

The report detailed the current recruitment practice, retention practice, Workforce Strategy 2022-2027, including the Action Plan, and future considerations.  The Officer highlighted a number of the current practice, recruitment issues being faced by the Council and future considerations within the report.

The Committee discussed the following: -

·       The positive results / actions in respect of staff retention.

·       The importance of retaining current staff for their skills / knowledge.

·       Catering for staff / potential employees who do not have access to a computer / online services, the alternative methods available and the Council being mindful of the different skills sets available within and external to the Authority.

·       The Digital Strategy and upskilling the workforce.

·       Sharing job advertisements more widely than the Council website to increase accessibility for applicants, how the Council would be reviewing the effectiveness of the website and investigating other options available, e.g. posting advertisements on community groups Facebook page.

·       Whilst the Council is a disability friendly employer, some of its buildings, e.g. the Guildhall are not disability friendly and the hope that the new Council buildings in the City Centre would be far more accessible.

·       Feedback from the local community that the Council is generally not a race friendly organisation, ethnic minorities being excluded from the recruitment process and the details included in the Workforce Strategy on equality, diversity and inclusion, particularly the objectives of the Council and specific actions in relation to equality and diversity.

·       Current vacancies within the Council and the difficulty in establishing an exact figure which fluctuates on a daily basis.

·       Current recruitment being placed on hold due to the present financial situation and the number of current vacancies being predominantly Social Services front-line jobs.

·       Using ‘a day in the life’ for current employees who had aspirations to change role within the Council, which has been successful in other organisations and how it would be reviewed as part of the wider Organisational Development transformation review.

·       The active redeployment list run by the Authority and the number of successfully redeployed staff within the Council.

·       Ratio of applications through the medium of Welsh, which the officer would clarify.

·       Agency staff – the number employed by the Authority and the details highlighted in a recent report to the Governance & Audit Committee, which the officer would circulate to the Committee.

·       Apprenticeships – the opportunity for people of all ages to take up roles across the Authority, the opportunity for the Council to develop its own apprentice service, how the Council is looking to develop different entry points for young people and existing staff.

The Chair thanked the Head of HR and Service Centre for a comprehensive report.

For Information.

The Chair presented ‘for information’ the Organisational Transformation Corporate Delivery Committee Work Plan 2022-23.

The topics for discussion at the following meetings were noted: -

·       Transformation - 24 January 2023

·       Agile Working Update – 28 February 2023

·       Customer Contact Strategy – 28 March 2023

The Chair and Officers would discuss the options available for the Work Plan and would report to the next scheduled meeting.